Contributor: Andrew Walen, LCSW-C, LICSW, CEDS, Founder and Executive Director of The Body Image Therapy Center Yes, males can develop an eating disorder. It may not seem like it, as you rarely hear about it. Males do not seek treatment as often as others. Their behaviors are different. Their language is different. But the negative [...]
Type 1 (T1) diabetes is a medical condition that affects someone’s endocrine system [1]. Diabetes causes someone’s immune system to attack some of the cells in someone’s pancreas. This then impacts their ability to produce insulin [1]. If diabetes is left untreated, it can be deadly [1]. To keep themselves alive and healthy, people with [...]
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a lesser-known eating disorder diagnosis that is no less serious than the more commonly-known Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or Binge Eating Disorder. Supporting earlier diagnosis and treatment of this disorder can be achieved by increasing awareness and understanding of signs and symptoms. What is Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder? Criteria in [...]
From daily meals to social commentary on food, there are many aspects of daily life that can be triggering to someone in eating disorder recovery. For those that work in the food industry, this interaction with the object of their disorder is unavoidable and can feel conflicting. On one side, there is exposure to what used [...]
Last year, I was invited to something I had never heard about before: A Galentine’s Party. At first, I merely thought my friend had misspelled the word Valentine’s Day on my invitation. Little did I know, this play on words describes a get-together with friends around Valentine’s Day. In other words, it was a time [...]
Body image is a growing concern for those in the chaotic transition between childhood and adolescence. Pre-adolescence or Tweens, defined as being between ages 10 to 13, is a formative time when children begin to internalize social and familial beliefs around the body, food, exercise, and the self. These malleable minds may quickly pick-up beliefs [...]
Nearly a decade after Demi Lovato first opened up about her struggles with bulimia, self-harm, and other mental health issues, the now-28-year-old singer has once again used her platform to speak up about her struggle to recover from bulimia. Relapse for Demi Lovato During Eating Disorder Recovery In a February 2020 interview on Ashley Graham’s [...]
First Episode Rapid Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) is a treatment model that was developed in the United Kingdom [1]. This approach is unique because it aims to provide treatment quickly to people age 16 to 25 who have had their eating disorder for less than three years [1]. This is different than the traditional [...]
Perfectionism is possibly one of the most-debated personality traits. Author Kristen Neff points out that, as its most productive, perfectionism motivates individuals to do their best, to strive to achieve and to set high standards for themselves [1]. However, she is also accurate in describing its pitfalls, noting that “when your entire sense of self-worth is [...]
While many are aware of how dangerous and harmful anorexia nervosa behaviors can be, it seems it is still difficult for anyone to imagine that they could witness this in themselves or someone they love. The sad truth is that the mortality rate for individuals with anorexia nervosa is the second-highest of all DSM-5 diagnoses, [...]
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